FTC settles with accused Florida collector on India scam calls

The FTC filed federal charges against a student loan debt relief company that lied it alleges lied to consumers.

Federal officials announced a settlement Wednesday with a Florida company accused of using “runners” to pick up money at Western Union or MoneyGram locations throughout the state in connection with scam calls from India.

Callers pretended to be from a host of agencies including the IRS collecting debts, or officials collecting a fee to pick up a “free”government grant, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

PHLG Enterprises in Palm Harbor, Fla. and managing member Joel S. Treuhaft helped collect more than $1.5 million from about 3,000 people in 2015 and 2016, according to the FTC.

PHLG and Treuhaft admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, but are permanently enjoined from receiving or facilitating payment for goods or services offered or sold through telemarketing, among other restrictions. Attempts to reach defendants’ attorneys were not immediately successful.

“Some runners lied to store employees to retrieve a consumer’s money, including saying they were the consumer’s friends or relatives,” an FTC statement said. “The runners went to various stores every day, for eight to 10 hours per day, to collect consumers’ money. The defendants and their runners kept a portion of the money and delivered the rest to the India-based scammers through a complex series of transactions designed to avoid detection by law enforcement.”

The settlement “imposes a $1.5 million judgment that will be suspended based on the defendants’ inability to pay,” according to the FTC. “The full judgment will become due immediately if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.”